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Showing papers by "University of Reading published in 2018"


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This review discusses the main gut microorganisms, particularly bacteria, and microbial pathways associated with the metabolism of dietary carbohydrates, proteins, plant polyphenols, bile acids, and vitamins, and the methodologies, existing and novel, that can be employed to explore gut microbial pathways of metabolism.
Abstract: The diverse microbial community that inhabits the human gut has an extensive metabolic repertoire that is distinct from, but complements the activity of mammalian enzymes in the liver and gut mucosa and includes functions essential for host digestion. As such, the gut microbiota is a key factor in shaping the biochemical profile of the diet and, therefore, its impact on host health and disease. The important role that the gut microbiota appears to play in human metabolism and health has stimulated research into the identification of specific microorganisms involved in different processes, and the elucidation of metabolic pathways, particularly those associated with metabolism of dietary components and some host-generated substances. In the first part of the review, we discuss the main gut microorganisms, particularly bacteria, and microbial pathways associated with the metabolism of dietary carbohydrates (to short chain fatty acids and gases), proteins, plant polyphenols, bile acids, and vitamins. The second part of the review focuses on the methodologies, existing and novel, that can be employed to explore gut microbial pathways of metabolism. These include mathematical models, omics techniques, isolated microbes, and enzyme assays.

1,294 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
26 Jul 2018-Nature
TL;DR: A synopsis of the current understanding of the spatio-temporal complexity of this important climate mode and its influence on the Earth system is provided and a unifying framework that identifies the key factors for this complexity is proposed.
Abstract: El Nino events are characterized by surface warming of the tropical Pacific Ocean and weakening of equatorial trade winds that occur every few years Such conditions are accompanied by changes in atmospheric and oceanic circulation, affecting global climate, marine and terrestrial ecosystems, fisheries and human activities The alternation of warm El Nino and cold La Nina conditions, referred to as the El Nino–Southern Oscillation (ENSO), represents the strongest year-to-year fluctuation of the global climate system Here we provide a synopsis of our current understanding of the spatio-temporal complexity of this important climate mode and its influence on the Earth system

598 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The Lancet Countdown tracks 41 indicators across five domains: climate change impacts, exposures, and vulnerability; adaptation, planning, and resilience for health; mitigation actions and health co-benefits; finance and economics; and public and political engagement.

582 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
05 Mar 2018-Polymers
TL;DR: This review has particularly focused on the effect of chemical derivatization on the mucoadhesive properties of chitosan, and other important properties including water-solubility, stability, controlled release, permeation enhancing effect, and in vivo performance are described.
Abstract: Mucoadhesive drug delivery systems are desirable as they can increase the residence time of drugs at the site of absorption/action, provide sustained drug release and minimize the degradation of drugs in various body sites. Chitosan is a cationic polysaccharide that exhibits mucoadhesive properties and it has been widely used in the design of mucoadhesive dosage forms. However, its limited mucoadhesive strength and limited water-solubility at neutral and basic pHs are considered as two major drawbacks of its use. Chemical modification of chitosan has been exploited to tackle these two issues. In this review, we highlight the up-to-date studies involving the synthetic approaches and description of mucoadhesive properties of chitosan and chitosan derivatives. These derivatives include trimethyl chitosan, carboxymethyl chitosan, thiolated chitosan, chitosan-enzyme inhibitors, chitosan-ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (chitosan-EDTA), half-acetylated chitosan, acrylated chitosan, glycol chitosan, chitosan-catechol, methyl pyrrolidinone-chitosan, cyclodextrin-chitosan and oleoyl-quaternised chitosan. We have particularly focused on the effect of chemical derivatization on the mucoadhesive properties of chitosan. Additionally, other important properties including water-solubility, stability, controlled release, permeation enhancing effect, and in vivo performance are also described.

441 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This review cuts across the boundaries between genomics, transcriptomics and proteomics, summarizing how omics data are generated, analysed and shared and provides an overview of the current strengths and weaknesses of this global approach.
Abstract: Advances in the technologies and informatics used to generate and process large biological data sets (omics data) are promoting a critical shift in the study of biomedical sciences. While genomics, transcriptomics and proteinomics, coupled with bioinformatics and biostatistics, are gaining momentum, they are still, for the most part, assessed individually with distinct approaches generating monothematic rather than integrated knowledge. As other areas of biomedical sciences, including metabolomics, epigenomics and pharmacogenomics, are moving towards the omics scale, we are witnessing the rise of inter-disciplinary data integration strategies to support a better understanding of biological systems and eventually the development of successful precision medicine. This review cuts across the boundaries between genomics, transcriptomics and proteomics, summarizing how omics data are generated, analysed and shared, and provides an overview of the current strengths and weaknesses of this global approach. This work intends to target students and researchers seeking knowledge outside of their field of expertise and fosters a leap from the reductionist to the global-integrative analytical approach in research.

438 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Analysis of the largest pest-control database of its kind shows that surrounding noncrop habitat does not consistently improve pest management, meaning habitat conservation may bolster production in some systems and depress yields in others.
Abstract: The idea that noncrop habitat enhances pest control and represents a win-win opportunity to conserve biodiversity and bolster yields has emerged as an agroecological paradigm. However, while noncrop habitat in landscapes surrounding farms sometimes benefits pest predators, natural enemy responses remain heterogeneous across studies and effects on pests are inconclusive. The observed heterogeneity in species responses to noncrop habitat may be biological in origin or could result from variation in how habitat and biocontrol are measured. Here, we use a pest-control database encompassing 132 studies and 6,759 sites worldwide to model natural enemy and pest abundances, predation rates, and crop damage as a function of landscape composition. Our results showed that although landscape composition explained significant variation within studies, pest and enemy abundances, predation rates, crop damage, and yields each exhibited different responses across studies, sometimes increasing and sometimes decreasing in landscapes with more noncrop habitat but overall showing no consistent trend. Thus, models that used landscape-composition variables to predict pest-control dynamics demonstrated little potential to explain variation across studies, though prediction did improve when comparing studies with similar crop and landscape features. Overall, our work shows that surrounding noncrop habitat does not consistently improve pest management, meaning habitat conservation may bolster production in some systems and depress yields in others. Future efforts to develop tools that inform farmers when habitat conservation truly represents a win-win would benefit from increased understanding of how landscape effects are modulated by local farm management and the biology of pests and their enemies.

398 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors compared the performance of CHIRP and CHIRPS with two similar operation satellite rainfall products: the African Rainfall Climatology version 2 (ARC2) and the Tropical Applications of Meteorology using Satellite data (TAMSAT).
Abstract: Long and temporally consistent rainfall time series are essential in climate analyses and applications. Rainfall data from station observations are inadequate over many parts of the world due to sparse or non-existent observation networks, or limited reporting of gauge observations. As a result, satellite rainfall estimates have been used as an alternative or as a supplement to station observations. However, many satellite-based rainfall products with long time series suffer from coarse spatial and temporal resolutions and inhomogeneities caused by variations in satellite inputs. There are some satellite rainfall products with reasonably consistent time series, but they are often limited to specific geographic areas. The Climate Hazards Group Infrared Precipitation (CHIRP) and CHIRP combined with station observations (CHIRPS) are recently produced satellite-based rainfall products with relatively high spatial and temporal resolutions and quasi-global coverage. In this study, CHIRP and CHIRPS were evaluated over East Africa at daily, dekadal (10-day) and monthly time scales. The evaluation was done by comparing the satellite products with rain gauge data from about 1200 stations. The CHIRP and CHIRPS products were also compared with two similar operation satellite rainfall products: the African Rainfall Climatology version 2 (ARC2) and the Tropical Applications of Meteorology using Satellite data (TAMSAT). The results show that both CHIRP and CHIRPS products are significantly better than ARC2 with higher skill and low or no bias. These products were also found to be slightly better than the latest version of the TAMSAT product at dekadal and monthly time scales, while TAMSAT performed better at daily time scale. The performance of the different satellite products exhibits high spatial variability with weak performances over coastal and mountainous regions.

367 citations



Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Persistent and severe PND substantially raises the risk for adverse outcome on all child measures, and meeting criteria for depression both early and late in the postnatal year should alert health care professionals to a depression that is likely to be persistent and to be associated with an especially elevated risk of multiple adverse child outcomes.
Abstract: Importance Maternal postnatal depression (PND) is common and associated with adverse child outcomes. These effects are not inevitable, and it is critical to identify those most at risk. Previous work suggests that the risks of adverse outcomes are increased when PND is severe and persistent, but this has not been systematically studied. Objective To examine the association between differing levels of persistence and severity of PND and long-term child outcomes. Design, Setting, and Participants The sample for this observational study comprised participants in the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children in the United Kingdom. Three thresholds of PND severity—moderate, marked, and severe—were defined using the self-rated Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS). Depression was defined as persistent when the EPDS score was above the threshold level at both 2 and 8 months after childbirth. For each of these severity and persistence categories, the following were examined: (1) the trajectories of later EPDS scores (6 time points between 21 months and 11 years after childbirth) and (2) child outcomes—behavioral problems at 3.5 years of age, school-leaving mathematics grades at 16 years of age, and depression at 18 years of age. Data analysis was conducted from July 12, 2016, to February 8, 2017. Main Outcomes and Measures Child behavioral problems at 3.5 years of age using the Rutter total problems scale, school-leaving mathematics grades at 16 years of age extracted from records of external national public examinations, and offspring depression at 18 years of age using the Clinical Interview Schedule–Revised. Results For the 9848 mothers in the sample, the mean (SD) age at delivery was 28.5 (4.7) years. Of the 8287 children, 4227 (51%) were boys and 4060 (49%) were girls. Compared with women with PND that was not persistent and women who did not score above the EPDS threshold, for all 3 severity levels, women with persistent PND showed elevated depressive symptoms up to 11 years after childbirth. Whether persistent or not, PND doubled the risk of child behavior disturbance. The odds ratio (OR) for child behavioral disturbance for mothers with moderate PND was 2.22 (95% CI, 1.74-2.83), for mothers with marked PND was 1.91 (95% CI, 1.36-2.68), and for mothers with severe PND was 2.39 (95% CI, 1.78-3.22). Persistence of severe PND was particularly important to child development, substantially increasing the risk for behavioral problems at 3.5 years of age (OR, 4.84; 95% CI, 2.94-7.98), lower mathematics grades at 16 years of age (OR, 2.65; 95% CI, 1.26-5.57), and higher prevalence of depression at 18 years of age (OR, 7.44; 95% CI, 2.89-19.11). Conclusions and Relevance Persistent and severe PND substantially raises the risk for adverse outcome on all child measures. Meeting criteria for depression both early and late in the postnatal year, especially when the mood disturbance is severe, should alert health care professionals to a depression that is likely to be persistent and to be associated with an especially elevated risk of multiple adverse child outcomes. Treatment for this group should be prioritized.

343 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, a new surface-atmospheric dataset for driving ocean-sea-ice models based on Japanese 55-year atmospheric reanalysis (JRA-55), referred to here as JRA55-do, is presented.

340 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
Anny Cazenave, Benoit Meyssignac, Michael Ablain, Magdalena Balmaseda1, Jonathan L. Bamber2, Valentina R. Barletta3, Brian D. Beckley4, Jérôme Benveniste5, Etienne Berthier, Alejandro Blazquez, Timothy P. Boyer6, Denise Cáceres7, Don P. Chambers8, Nicolas Champollion9, Ben Chao10, Jianli Chen11, Lijing Cheng12, John A. Church13, Stephen Chuter2, J. Graham Cogley14, Soenke Dangendorf15, Damien Desbruyères16, Petra Döll7, Catia M. Domingues17, Ulrike Falk9, James S. Famiglietti18, Luciana Fenoglio-Marc19, René Forsberg3, Gaia Galassi20, Alex S. Gardner18, Andreas Groh21, Benjamin D. Hamlington22, Anna E. Hogg23, Martin Horwath21, Vincent Humphrey24, Laurent Husson25, Masayoshi Ishii, A. Jaeggi26, Svetlana Jevrejeva27, Gregory C. Johnson6, Nicolas Kolodziejczyk, Jürgen Kusche19, Kurt Lambeck28, Felix W. Landerer18, P. W. Leclercq29, Benoit Legresy17, Eric Leuliette6, William Llovel, Laurent Longuevergne30, Bryant D. Loomis4, Scott B. Luthcke4, Marta Marcos31, Ben Marzeion9, Christopher J. Merchant32, Mark A. Merrifield33, Glenn A. Milne34, Gary T. Mitchum8, Yara Mohajerani35, Maeva Monier, Didier Monselesan17, Steve Nerem36, Hindumathi Palanisamy, Frank Paul37, Begoña Pérez, Christopher G. Piecuch38, Rui M. Ponte, Sarah G. Purkey33, John T. Reager18, Roelof Rietbroek19, Eric Rignot35, Riccardo Riva39, Dean Roemmich33, Louise Sandberg Sørensen3, Ingo Sasgen40, E.J.O. Schram39, Sonia I. Seneviratne24, C. K. Shum41, Giorgio Spada20, Detlef Stammer42, Roderic van de Wal43, Isabella Velicogna44, Karina von Schuckmann, Yoshihide Wada43, Yiguo Wang45, Christopher Watson46, David N. Wiese18, Susan Wijffels17, Richard M. Westaway2, Guy Wöppelmann47, Bert Wouters43 
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors present estimates of the altimetry-based global mean sea level (average variance of 3.1 +/- 0.3 mm/yr and acceleration of 0.1 mm/r2 over 1993-present), as well as of the different components of the sea level budget over 2005-present, using GRACE-based ocean mass estimates.
Abstract: Global mean sea level is an integral of changes occurring in the climate system in response to unforced climate variability as well as natural and anthropogenic forcing factors. Its temporal evolution allows detecting changes (e.g., acceleration) in one or more components. Study of the sea level budget provides constraints on missing or poorly known contributions, such as the unsurveyed deep ocean or the still uncertain land water component. In the context of the World Climate Research Programme Grand Challenge entitled “Regional Sea Level and Coastal Impacts”, an international effort involving the sea level community worldwide has been recently initiated with the objective of assessing the various data sets used to estimate components of the sea level budget during the altimetry era (1993 to present). These data sets are based on the combination of a broad range of space-based and in situ observations, model estimates and algorithms. Evaluating their quality, quantifying uncertainties and identifying sources of discrepancies between component estimates is extremely useful for various applications in climate research. This effort involves several tens of scientists from about fifty research teams/institutions worldwide (www.wcrp-climate.org/grand-challenges/gc-sea- level). The results presented in this paper are a synthesis of the first assessment performed during 2017-2018. We present estimates of the altimetry-based global mean sea level (average rate of 3.1 +/- 0.3 mm/yr and acceleration of 0.1 mm/yr2 over 1993-present), as well as of the different components of the sea level budget (http://doi.org/10.17882/54854). We further examine closure of the sea level budget, comparing the observed global mean sea level with the sum of components. Ocean thermal expansion, glaciers, Greenland and Antarctica contribute by 42%, 21%, 15% and 8% to the global mean sea level over the 1993-present. We also study the sea level budget over 2005-present, using GRACE-based ocean mass estimates instead of sum of individual mass components. Results show closure of the sea level budget within 0.3 mm/yr. Substantial uncertainty remains for the land water storage component, as shown in examining individual mass contributions to sea level.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: It is demonstrated that microbial biomass and carbon use efficiency are reduced in human-impacted near-neutral pH soils, whereas in acidic soils, microbial growth is a bigger constraint on decomposition rates.
Abstract: Soil microorganisms act as gatekeepers for soil-atmosphere carbon exchange by balancing the accumulation and release of soil organic matter However, poor understanding of the mechanisms responsible hinders the development of effective land management strategies to enhance soil carbon storage Here we empirically test the link between microbial ecophysiological traits and topsoil carbon content across geographically distributed soils and land use contrasts We discovered distinct pH controls on microbial mechanisms of carbon accumulation Land use intensification in low-pH soils that increased the pH above a threshold (~62) leads to carbon loss through increased decomposition, following alleviation of acid retardation of microbial growth However, loss of carbon with intensification in near-neutral pH soils was linked to decreased microbial biomass and reduced growth efficiency that was, in turn, related to trade-offs with stress alleviation and resource acquisition Thus, less-intensive management practices in near-neutral pH soils have more potential for carbon storage through increased microbial growth efficiency, whereas in acidic soils, microbial growth is a bigger constraint on decomposition rates

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, traceable evidence for 467 pathways by which human health, water, food, economy, infrastructure and security have been recently impacted by climate hazards such as warming, heatwaves, precipitation, drought, floods, fires, storms, sea-level rise and changes in natural land cover and ocean chemistry.
Abstract: The ongoing emission of greenhouse gases (GHGs) is triggering changes in many climate hazards that can impact humanity. We found traceable evidence for 467 pathways by which human health, water, food, economy, infrastructure and security have been recently impacted by climate hazards such as warming, heatwaves, precipitation, drought, floods, fires, storms, sea-level rise and changes in natural land cover and ocean chemistry. By 2100, the world’s population will be exposed concurrently to the equivalent of the largest magnitude in one of these hazards if emmisions are aggressively reduced, or three if they are not, with some tropical coastal areas facing up to six simultaneous hazards. These findings highlight the fact that GHG emissions pose a broad threat to humanity by intensifying multiple hazards to which humanity is vulnerable.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: An extensive practical and pragmatic overview on the use of the main chemometrics tools in food science studies, focusing on the effects of process variables on chemical composition and on the authentication of foods based on chemical markers is provided.
Abstract: In the last decade, the use of multivariate statistical techniques developed for analytical chemistry has been adopted widely in food science and technology. Usually, chemometrics is applied when there is a large and complex dataset, in terms of sample numbers, types, and responses. The results are used for authentication of geographical origin, farming systems, or even to trace adulteration of high value-added commodities. In this article, we provide an extensive practical and pragmatic overview on the use of the main chemometrics tools in food science studies, focusing on the effects of process variables on chemical composition and on the authentication of foods based on chemical markers. Pattern recognition methods, such as principal component analysis and cluster analysis, have been used to associate the level of bioactive components with in vitro functional properties, although supervised multivariate statistical methods have been used for authentication purposes. Overall, chemometrics is a useful aid when extensive, multiple, and complex real-life problems need to be addressed in a multifactorial and holistic context. Undoubtedly, chemometrics should be used by governmental bodies and industries that need to monitor the quality of foods, raw materials, and processes when high-dimensional data are available. We have focused on practical examples and listed the pros and cons of the most used chemometric tools to help the user choose the most appropriate statistical approach for analysis of complex and multivariate data.

Journal ArticleDOI
20 Jul 2018
TL;DR: Modelling and prediction efforts are starting to provide some useful information on how blocking and its impacts may change in the future, although deeper understanding of the processes at play will be needed to increase confidence in model projections.
Abstract: Purpose of Review Atmospheric blocking events represent some of the most high-impact weather patterns in the mid-latitudes, yet they have often been a cause for concern in future climate projections. There has been low confidence in predicted future changes in blocking, despite relatively good agreement between climate models on a decline in blocking. This is due to the lack of a comprehensive theory of blocking and a pervasive underestimation of blocking occurrence bymodels. This paper reviews the state of knowledge regarding blocking under climate change, with the aim of providing an overview for those working in related fields. Recent Findings Several avenues have been identified by which blocking can be improved in numerical models, though a fully reliable simulation remains elusive (at least, beyond a few days lead time). Models are therefore starting to provide some useful information on how blocking and its impacts may change in the future, although deeper understanding of the processes at play will be needed to increase confidence in model projections. There are still major uncertainties regarding the processes most important to the onset, maintenance and decay of blocking and advances in our understanding of atmospheric dynamics, for example in the role of diabatic processes, continue to inform the modelling and prediction efforts. Summary The term ‘blocking’ covers a diverse array of synoptic patterns, and hence a bewildering range of indices has been developed to identify events. Results are hence not considered fully trustworthy until they have been found using several different methods. Examples of such robust results are the underestimation of blocking by models, and an overall decline in future occurrence, albeit with a complex regional and seasonal variation. In contrast, hemispheric trends in blocking over the recent historical period are not supported by different methods, and natural variability will likely dominate regional variations over the next few decades.

Journal ArticleDOI
11 Apr 2018-Nature
TL;DR: Palaeoclimate reconstructions indicate that the transition occurred either as a predominantly abrupt shift towards the end of the LIA, or as a more gradual, continued decline over the past 150 years; this ambiguity probably arises from non-AMOC influences on the various proxies or from the different sensitivities of these proxies to individual components of the AMOC.
Abstract: The Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC) is a system of ocean currents that has an essential role in Earth’s climate, redistributing heat and influencing the carbon cycle1, 2. The AMOC has been shown to be weakening in recent years1; this decline may reflect decadal-scale variability in convection in the Labrador Sea, but short observational datasets preclude a longer-term perspective on the modern state and variability of Labrador Sea convection and the AMOC1, 3,4,5. Here we provide several lines of palaeo-oceanographic evidence that Labrador Sea deep convection and the AMOC have been anomalously weak over the past 150 years or so (since the end of the Little Ice Age, LIA, approximately ad 1850) compared with the preceding 1,500 years. Our palaeoclimate reconstructions indicate that the transition occurred either as a predominantly abrupt shift towards the end of the LIA, or as a more gradual, continued decline over the past 150 years; this ambiguity probably arises from non-AMOC influences on the various proxies or from the different sensitivities of these proxies to individual components of the AMOC. We suggest that enhanced freshwater fluxes from the Arctic and Nordic seas towards the end of the LIA—sourced from melting glaciers and thickened sea ice that developed earlier in the LIA—weakened Labrador Sea convection and the AMOC. The lack of a subsequent recovery may have resulted from hysteresis or from twentieth-century melting of the Greenland Ice Sheet6. Our results suggest that recent decadal variability in Labrador Sea convection and the AMOC has occurred during an atypical, weak background state. Future work should aim to constrain the roles of internal climate variability and early anthropogenic forcing in the AMOC weakening described here.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: A typology of four reasons for using storylines to represent uncertainty in physical aspects of climate change: improving risk awareness by framing risk in an event-oriented rather than a probabilistic manner, which corresponds more directly to how people perceive and respond to risk.
Abstract: As climate change research becomes increasingly applied, the need for actionable information is growing rapidly. A key aspect of this requirement is the representation of uncertainties. The conventional approach to representing uncertainty in physical aspects of climate change is probabilistic, based on ensembles of climate model simulations. In the face of deep uncertainties, the known limitations of this approach are becoming increasingly apparent. An alternative is thus emerging which may be called a ‘storyline’ approach. We define a storyline as a physically self-consistent unfolding of past events, or of plausible future events or pathways. No a priori probability of the storyline is assessed; emphasis is placed instead on understanding the driving factors involved, and the plausibility of those factors. We introduce a typology of four reasons for using storylines to represent uncertainty in physical aspects of climate change: (i) improving risk awareness by framing risk in an event-oriented rather than a probabilistic manner, which corresponds more directly to how people perceive and respond to risk; (ii) strengthening decision-making by allowing one to work backward from a particular vulnerability or decision point, combining climate change information with other relevant factors to address compound risk and develop appropriate stress tests; (iii) providing a physical basis for partitioning uncertainty, thereby allowing the use of more credible regional models in a conditioned manner and (iv) exploring the boundaries of plausibility, thereby guarding against false precision and surprise. Storylines also offer a powerful way of linking physical with human aspects of climate change.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The 2017 annual symposium organized by the University Medical Center Groningen in The Netherlands focused on the role of the gut microbiome in human health and disease, and experts from academia and industry examined interactions of prebiotics, probiotics, or vitamins with the Gut microbiome in health and Disease, the development of the microbiome in early-life and the roleof the microbiome on the gut–brain axis.
Abstract: The 2017 annual symposium organized by the University Medical Center Groningen in The Netherlands focused on the role of the gut microbiome in human health and disease. Experts from academia and industry examined interactions of prebiotics, probiotics, or vitamins with the gut microbiome in health and disease, the development of the microbiome in early-life and the role of the microbiome on the gut-brain axis. The gut microbiota changes dramatically during pregnancy and intrinsic factors (such as stress), in addition to extrinsic factors (such as diet, and drugs) influence the composition and activity of the gut microbiome throughout life. Microbial metabolites, e.g. short-chain fatty acids affect gut-brain signaling and the immune response. The gut microbiota has a regulatory role on anxiety, mood, cognition and pain which is exerted via the gut-brain axis. Ingestion of prebiotics or probiotics has been used to treat a range of conditions including constipation, allergic reactions and infections in infancy, and IBS. Fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) highly effective for treating recurrent Clostridium difficile infections. The gut microbiome affects virtually all aspects of human health, but the degree of scientific evidence, the models and technologies and the understanding of mechanisms of action vary considerably from one benefit area to the other. For a clinical practice to be broadly accepted, the mode of action, the therapeutic window, and potential side effects need to thoroughly be investigated. This calls for further coordinated state-of-the art research to better understand and document the human gut microbiome's effects on human health.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, a coupled higher-resolution version of the Max Planck Institute Earth System Model (MPI•ESM1.2•HR) is compared with its lower-resolved version.
Abstract: The MPI‐ESM1.2 is the latest version of the Max Planck Institute Earth System Model and is the baseline for the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 6 and current seasonal and decadal climate predictions. This paper evaluates a coupled higher‐resolution version (MPI‐ESM1.2‐HR) in comparison with its lower‐resolved version (MPI‐ESM1.2‐LR). We focus on basic oceanic and atmospheric mean states and selected modes of variability, the El Nino/Southern Oscillation and the North Atlantic Oscillation. The increase in atmospheric resolution in MPI‐ESM1.2‐HR reduces the biases of upper‐level zonal wind and atmospheric jet stream position in the northern extratropics. This results in a decrease of the storm track bias over the northern North Atlantic, for both winter and summer season. The blocking frequency over the European region is improved in summer, and North Atlantic Oscillation and related storm track variations improve in winter. Stable Atlantic meridional overturning circulations are found with magnitudes of ~16 Sv for MPI‐ESM1.2‐HR and ~20 Sv for MPI‐ESM1.2‐LR at 26°N. A strong sea surface temperature bias of ~5°C along with a too zonal North Atlantic current is present in both versions. The sea surface temperature bias in the eastern tropical Atlantic is reduced by ~1°C due to higher‐resolved orography in MPI‐ESM‐HR, and the region of the cold‐tongue bias is reduced in the tropical Pacific. MPI‐ESM1.2‐HR has a well‐balanced radiation budget and its climate sensitivity is explicitly tuned to 3 K. Although the obtained reductions in long‐standing biases are modest, the improvements in atmospheric dynamics make this model well suited for prediction and impact studies.

Journal ArticleDOI
06 Jun 2018-Nature
TL;DR: It is concluded that environmental and host factors explain most of the variation in ectomycorrhizal diversity, that the environmental thresholds used as major ecosystem assessment tools need adjustment and that the importance of belowground specificity and plasticity has previously been underappreciated.
Abstract: Explaining the large-scale diversity of soil organisms that drive biogeochemical processes—and their responses to environmental change—is critical. However, identifying consistent drivers of belowground diversity and abundance for some soil organisms at large spatial scales remains problematic. Here we investigate a major guild, the ectomycorrhizal fungi, across European forests at a spatial scale and resolution that is—to our knowledge—unprecedented, to explore key biotic and abiotic predictors of ectomycorrhizal diversity and to identify dominant responses and thresholds for change across complex environmental gradients. We show the effect of 38 host, environment, climate and geographical variables on ectomycorrhizal diversity, and define thresholds of community change for key variables. We quantify host specificity and reveal plasticity in functional traits involved in soil foraging across gradients. We conclude that environmental and host factors explain most of the variation in ectomycorrhizal diversity, that the environmental thresholds used as major ecosystem assessment tools need adjustment and that the importance of belowground specificity and plasticity has previously been underappreciated.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The World Urban Database and Access Portal Tools (WUDAPT) as mentioned in this paper is an international community-based initiative to acquire and disseminate climate relevant data on the physical geographies of cities for modeling and analysis purposes.
Abstract: The World Urban Database and Access Portal Tools (WUDAPT) is an international community-based initiative to acquire and disseminate climate relevant data on the physical geographies of cities for modeling and analysis purposes. The current lacuna of globally consistent information on cities is a major impediment to urban climate science toward informing and developing climate mitigation and adaptation strategies at urban scales. WUDAPT consists of a database and a portal system; its database is structured into a hierarchy representing different levels of detail, and the data are acquired using innovative protocols that utilize crowdsourcing approaches, Geowiki tools, freely accessible data, and building typology archetypes. The base level of information (L0) consists of local climate zone (LCZ) maps of cities; each LCZ category is associated with a range of values for model-relevant surface descriptors (roughness, impervious surface cover, roof area, building heights, etc.). Levels 1 (L1) and 2 (L2) will provide specific intra-urban values for other relevant descriptors at greater precision, such as data morphological forms, material composition data, and energy usage. This article describes the status of the WUDAPT project and demonstrates its potential value using observations and models. As a community-based project, other researchers are encouraged to participate to help create a global urban database of value to urban climate scientists.

Journal ArticleDOI
04 Jun 2018
TL;DR: In this article, a linear combination of cumulative CO2 emissions to the time of peak warming and non-CO2 radiative forcing immediately prior to that time is used to estimate the contribution of CO2-fe emissions to future global warming.
Abstract: While cumulative carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions dominate anthropogenic warming over centuries, temperatures over the coming decades are also strongly affected by short-lived climate pollutants (SLCPs), complicating the estimation of cumulative emission budgets for ambitious mitigation goals. Using conventional Global Warming Potentials (GWPs) to convert SLCPs to “CO2-equivalent” emissions misrepresents their impact on global temperature. Here we show that peak warming under a range of mitigation scenarios is determined by a linear combination of cumulative CO2 emissions to the time of peak warming and non-CO2 radiative forcing immediately prior to that time. This may be understood by expressing aggregate non-CO2 forcing as cumulative CO2 forcing-equivalent (CO2-fe) emissions. We show further that contributions to CO2-fe emissions are well approximated by a new usage of GWP, denoted GWP*, which relates cumulative CO2 emissions to date with the current rate of emission of SLCPs. GWP* accurately indicates the impact of emissions of both long-lived and short-lived pollutants on radiative forcing and temperatures over a wide range of timescales, including under ambitious mitigation when conventional GWPs fail. Measured by GWP*, implementing the Paris Agreement would reduce the expected rate of warming in 2030 by 28% relative to a No Policy scenario. Expressing mitigation efforts in terms of their impact on future cumulative emissions aggregated using GWP* would relate them directly to contributions to future warming, better informing both burden-sharing discussions and long-term policies and measures in pursuit of ambitious global temperature goals.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This paper is an attempt to consolidate the terminology that has been used in the earth sciences literature and was suggested at a European Space Agency workshop held in Reading in April 2014.
Abstract: Representation, representativity, representativeness error, forward interpolation error, forward model error, observation operator error, aggregation error and sampling error are all terms used to refer to components of observation error in the context of data assimilation. This paper is an attempt to consolidate the terminology that has been used in the earth sciences literature and was suggested at a European Space Agency workshop held in Reading in April 2014. We review the state-of-the-art, and through examples, motivate the terminology. In addition to a theoretical framework, examples from application areas of satellite data assimilation, ocean reanalysis and atmospheric chemistry data assimilation are provided. Diagnosing representation error statistics as well as their use in state-of-the-art data assimilation systems is discussed within a consistent framework.

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TL;DR: The authors integrate research on child simultaneous bilingual (2L1) acquisition more directly into the heritage language acquisition literature and offer an epistemological discussion related to incomplete acquisition, highlighting the descriptive and theoretical inaccuracy of the term.
Abstract: This paper integrates research on child simultaneous bilingual (2L1) acquisition more directly into the heritage language (HL) acquisition literature. The 2L1 literature mostly focuses on development in childhood, whereas heritage speakers (HSs) are often tested at an endstate in adulthood. However, insights from child 2L1 acquisition must be considered in HL acquisition theorizing precisely because many HSs are the adult outcomes of child 2L1 acquisition. Data from 2L1 acquisition raises serious questions for the construct of incomplete acquisition, a term broadly used in HL acquisition studies to describe almost any difference HSs display from baseline controls (usually monolinguals). We offer an epistemological discussion related to incomplete acquisition, highlighting the descriptive and theoretical inaccuracy of the term. We focus our discussion on two of several possible causal factors that contribute to variable competence outcomes in adult HSs, input (e.g., Sorace, 2004; Rothman, 2007; Pascual y Cabo & Rothman, 2012) and formal instruction (e.g., Kupisch, 2013; Kupisch et al., 2014) in the HL. We conclude by offering alternative terminology for HS outcomes.

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31 Jan 2018
TL;DR: The authors assesses the skill of current-generation global atmospheric chemistry models in simulating the observed present-day tropospheric ozone distribution, variability, and trends using a range of model evaluation techniques, and demonstrate that global chemistry models are broadly skillful in capturing the spatio-temporal variations of troposphere ozone over the seasonal cycle, for extreme pollution episodes, and changes over interannual to decadal periods.
Abstract: The goal of the Tropospheric Ozone Assessment Report (TOAR) is to provide the research community with an up-to-date scientific assessment of tropospheric ozone, from the surface to the tropopause. While a suite of observations provides significant information on the spatial and temporal distribution of tropospheric ozone, observational gaps make it necessary to use global atmospheric chemistry models to synthesize our understanding of the processes and variables that control tropospheric ozone abundance and its variability. Models facilitate the interpretation of the observations and allow us to make projections of future tropospheric ozone and trace gas distributions for different anthropogenic or natural perturbations. This paper assesses the skill of current-generation global atmospheric chemistry models in simulating the observed present-day tropospheric ozone distribution, variability, and trends. Drawing upon the results of recent international multi-model intercomparisons and using a range of model evaluation techniques, we demonstrate that global chemistry models are broadly skillful in capturing the spatio-temporal variations of tropospheric ozone over the seasonal cycle, for extreme pollution episodes, and changes over interannual to decadal periods. However, models are consistently biased high in the northern hemisphere and biased low in the southern hemisphere, throughout the depth of the troposphere, and are unable to replicate particular metrics that define the longer term trends in tropospheric ozone as derived from some background sites. When the models compare unfavorably against observations, we discuss the potential causes of model biases and propose directions for future developments, including improved evaluations that may be able to better diagnose the root cause of the model-observation disparity. Overall, model results should be approached critically, including determining whether the model performance is acceptable for the problem being addressed, whether biases can be tolerated or corrected, whether the model is appropriately constituted, and whether there is a way to satisfactorily quantify the uncertainty.

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TL;DR: How, where, and to what benefit the 'therapeutic landscapes' concept has been applied to date, and how such applications have contributed to its critical evolution as a relevant and useful concept in health geography are explored.

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TL;DR: In this paper, the authors proposed a theoretical model to predict the outward foreign direct investment (OFDI) by emerging market firms (EMFs) from China using a strategy tripod framework.
Abstract: What drives the outward foreign direct investments (OFDIs) by emerging market firms (EMFs)? Drawing on a strategy tripod framework, this article proposes a theoretical model to predict OFDI by EMFs from China. Specifically, we use institution- and industry-based views to examine two facets of home country environment, namely, the supportiveness from home government and unfavorableness from home industry, as important determinants of OFDI, and compare the relative strength of these effects. Further, we use the resource-based view to argue that the effect of the home country environment is contingent on the international experience portfolios of EMFs.

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TL;DR: In this paper, a series of GMD papers on the PMIP4-CMIP6 experiments are presented, with a focus on their novel features compared to the experiments performed in previous phases of PMIP and CMIP.
Abstract: . This paper is the first of a series of four GMD papers on the PMIP4-CMIP6 experiments. Part 2 (Otto-Bliesner et al., 2017) gives details about the two PMIP4-CMIP6 interglacial experiments, Part 3 (Jungclaus et al., 2017) about the last millennium experiment, and Part 4 (Kageyama et al., 2017) about the Last Glacial Maximum experiment. The mid-Pliocene Warm Period experiment is part of the Pliocene Model Intercomparison Project (PlioMIP) – Phase 2, detailed in Haywood et al. (2016). The goal of the Paleoclimate Modelling Intercomparison Project (PMIP) is to understand the response of the climate system to different climate forcings for documented climatic states very different from the present and historical climates. Through comparison with observations of the environmental impact of these climate changes, or with climate reconstructions based on physical, chemical, or biological records, PMIP also addresses the issue of how well state-of-the-art numerical models simulate climate change. Climate models are usually developed using the present and historical climates as references, but climate projections show that future climates will lie well outside these conditions. Palaeoclimates very different from these reference states therefore provide stringent tests for state-of-the-art models and a way to assess whether their sensitivity to forcings is compatible with palaeoclimatic evidence. Simulations of five different periods have been designed to address the objectives of the sixth phase of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP6): the millennium prior to the industrial epoch (CMIP6 name: past1000); the mid-Holocene, 6000 years ago (midHolocene); the Last Glacial Maximum, 21 000 years ago (lgm); the Last Interglacial, 127 000 years ago (lig127k); and the mid-Pliocene Warm Period, 3.2 million years ago (midPliocene-eoi400). These climatic periods are well documented by palaeoclimatic and palaeoenvironmental records, with climate and environmental changes relevant for the study and projection of future climate changes. This paper describes the motivation for the choice of these periods and the design of the numerical experiments and database requests, with a focus on their novel features compared to the experiments performed in previous phases of PMIP and CMIP. It also outlines the analysis plan that takes advantage of the comparisons of the results across periods and across CMIP6 in collaboration with other MIPs.

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TL;DR: This is the first study where the effect of exclusion diets and prebiotics has been evaluated in autism, showing potential beneficial effects and suggesting that multiple interventions might be more relevant for the improvement of these aspects as well as psychological traits.
Abstract: Different dietary approaches, such as gluten and casein free diets, or the use of probiotics and prebiotics have been suggested in autistic spectrum disorders in order to reduce gastrointestinal (GI) disturbances. GI symptoms are of particular interest in this population due to prevalence and correlation with the severity of behavioural traits. Nowadays, there is lack of strong evidence about the effect of dietary interventions on these problems, particularly prebiotics. Therefore, we assessed the impact of exclusion diets and a 6-week Bimuno® galactooligosaccharide (B-GOS®) prebiotic intervention in 30 autistic children. The results showed that children on exclusion diets reported significantly lower scores of abdominal pain and bowel movement, as well as lower abundance of Bifidobacterium spp. and Veillonellaceae family, but higher presence of Faecalibacterium prausnitzii and Bacteroides spp. In addition, significant correlations were found between bacterial populations and faecal amino acids in this group, compared to children following an unrestricted diet. Following B-GOS® intervention, we observed improvements in anti-social behaviour, significant increase of Lachnospiraceae family, and significant changes in faecal and urine metabolites. To our knowledge, this is the first study where the effect of exclusion diets and prebiotics has been evaluated in autism, showing potential beneficial effects. A combined dietary approach resulted in significant changes in gut microbiota composition and metabolism suggesting that multiple interventions might be more relevant for the improvement of these aspects as well as psychological traits. NCT02720900 ; registered in November 2015.

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TL;DR: Land-based mitigation for meeting the Paris climate target must consider the carbon cycle impacts of land-use change and it is shown that when bioenergy crops replace high carbon content ecosystems, forest- based mitigation could be more effective for CO2 removal than bio energy crops with carbon capture and storage.
Abstract: Scenarios that limit global warming to below 2 °C by 2100 assume significant land-use change to support large-scale carbon dioxide (CO2) removal from the atmosphere by afforestation/reforestation, avoided deforestation, and Biomass Energy with Carbon Capture and Storage (BECCS). The more ambitious mitigation scenarios require even greater land area for mitigation and/or earlier adoption of CO2 removal strategies. Here we show that additional land-use change to meet a 1.5 °C climate change target could result in net losses of carbon from the land. The effectiveness of BECCS strongly depends on several assumptions related to the choice of biomass, the fate of initial above ground biomass, and the fossil-fuel emissions offset in the energy system. Depending on these factors, carbon removed from the atmosphere through BECCS could easily be offset by losses due to land-use change. If BECCS involves replacing high-carbon content ecosystems with crops, then forest-based mitigation could be more efficient for atmospheric CO2 removal than BECCS.